The epic story of how David Zaharakis etched himself into Anzac Day folklore
Essendon was down and out until David Zaharakis, a 19-year-old in his fourth AFL game, etched himself into Bomber folklore. This is the story behind one of Anzac Day's most memorable moments.
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David Zaharakis seemingly has been training for this moment all his life.
In the backyard of his home as a kid, wearing an Essendon jumper with James Hird’s No.5 or Matthew Lloyd’s No.18 on the back
In his junior days with Eltham, who also wore the red sash across black.
In his time with the Northern Knights as he worked towards being drafted by Essendon as pick 23 of the 2008 national draft, the club he adored from birth.
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Perhaps even in his own daydreams.
But no amount of visualisation can prepare athletes for a mindset when a match rests in an individual’s hands — or more’s the point, on an accurate right foot.
Many have melted under that stress; a precious few thrive.
So when the 19-year-old, in his fourth AFL game, gathers the greasy Sherrin at the 30-minute mark of the last quarter in the 2009 Anzac Day match, about 45m from goal — with the game in the balance — no one knows how he will handle the pressure.
Not even his family watching from the stands and the couch at home know what will happen next, though they are certain of one thing.
He is going to have a crack at it.
Goal of the Year goes to Zaharakis for his Anzac Day heroics!
— Essendon FC (@essendonfc) September 30, 2009
THE DAY
Anzac Day always started early for the Zaharakis family, at the Shrine of Remembrance’s dawn service.
Parents John and Sandy Zaharakis instilled into their son, David, and daughters, Carrie and Jessica, their family’s links to the importance of the day.
David’s maternal great-grandfather Gus Heidke was a Lighthorseman who served at Gallipoli before becoming a lieutenant in the Middle East.
He returned home in 1919 to marry his sweetheart and start a family. A childhood friend of aviator Bert Hinkler, Heidke was also a prominent athlete in Queensland.
John Zaharakis’ father, Arthur, fought in the resistance in Greece in the Second World War.
“Those shrine services mean a lot to us, and that’s actually impacted on David,” John would recall.
“That spirit I think he displays on the field.”
The 2009 match is always going to be a special occasion, given it is David’s first Anzac Day clash against Collingwood.
His parents go to the dawn service before heading to the MCG; David focuses on his preparation, and his sister Jessica sits at home, watching with her partner, Paul, who is a one-eyed Magpie fan.
THE SETBACK
Essendon has lost the previous three Anzac clashes, with assistant coach Gary O’Donnell saying the heat is on before the season’s biggest home-and-away game.
“We hadn’t been going that well as a club … we needed to make a bit of a statement,” he recounts.
The pre-game theme centres on dealing with adversity.
Zaharakis, the Bombers’ most inexperienced player that day, recalls: “We had a (talk) before the game about the Anzacs and how they never backed down and never gave up.” He looks across at Collingwood, as the Last Post sounds, where Brent Macaffer is about to make his debut in front of 84,829 fans.
Just two minutes into the game ruckman David Hille misjudges his timing after a wayward pass from Courtenay Dempsey.
His knee buckles. His game is over.
In the coaches’ box, Matthew Knights has to rely on 21-year-old Paddy Ryder to ruck against Josh Fraser for the rest of the day.
“It’s hard to cover losing a player like that (Hille) early in the game,” O’Donnell says.
“The type of role he played meant that it put a lot of pressure back on Paddy.”
In another telling blow Matthew Lloyd — stranded on 899 goals — cops a corkie in the opening moments.
“I was pretty much non-existent,” Lloyd reflects.
“I remember Matty Knights telling me to stay deep with Simon Prestigiacomo.”
THE GAME
Anthony Rocca kicks the first goal soon after Hille’s injury, then Macaffer nails his maiden major.
The Bombers don’t kick a goal until the 23-minute-mark, as the Magpies push to a 15-point lead at quarter-time.
A five-goal-to-two second term levels the scores by halftime, then the Bombers edge to a nine-point three-quarter time lead.
It is a tight contest, but when Collingwood extends to a 14-point lead at the 24-minute mark of the last quarter, it looks over.
Sensing the game is gone, some Bombers fans head for the exits, eager to get the train out of Jolimont as quickly as possible.
Back home, on the couch in Eltham, Paul is decked out in his Collingwood gear, cheering the Magpies home.
“I wanted Dave to do well, of course, but I wanted Collingwood to win,” Paul says.
The weather matches the mood of Essendon supporters.
A day that has started out with blue sky is ending in a drizzle sweeping across the MCG.
The message from the Essendon coaches’ box is to take risks.
“We needed to score — and fast,” O’Donnell says.
THE SPARK
Sometimes all you need is a spark to ignite, as improbable as it looks in the murky conditions.
That comes at the 25-minute-mark when a Collingwood forward stoppage results in a handball to Andrew Lovett.
Lovett gathers the ball and runs … and runs … and runs.
Cutting a path through the middle, he takes four bounces.
O’Donnell says Lovett is one of the few players fast enough to “keep up with a ball that slides”.
Jaxson Barham is also quick and chases, but Lovett eludes all in his pathway.
“Barham can’t even catch him … the speed of Lovett,” Channel 10’s Stephen Quartermain says.
Lovett’s kick finds Leroy Jetta, who gets around Alan Toovey, and dribbles through a goal.
“Hello”, Quartermain says, sensing a comeback.
Lloyd recalls a mood change: “The drizzle had made things harder, but Andrew Lovett’s scintillating run was the spark that we needed. It just gave us some hope.”
The difference is eight points; the game has a pulse.
Jobe Watson nails the next clearance. As a scrimmage develops near the Bombers’ goalsquare, Leon Davis sends a hack kick out of bounds on the full.
Left-footer Ricky Dyson is in the right spot at the right time.
He launches from 50m line on the boundary at the 27-minute-mark, and it never looks like missing.
The difference? Two points.
The time left? No one knows as the networks are not using countdown clocks.
THE MOMENT
Collingwood pushes forward, and almost scores, before the Bombers transfer it in a heartbeat.
A long Dyson kick looks to have found a loose Jetta.
But Heritier Lumumba squares the contest, denying what Quartermain says “looked like a certain goal”.
The behind makes the margin one point.
In the Magpies coaches’ box, they call for calm heads.
The ball is in the steady hands of defender Tarkyn Lockyer.
Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse can’t believe what happens next.
“Tarks had Alan Toovey absolutely clear,” Malthouse says.
“He ignored it, and went long, and suffered the consequences.”
O’Donnell admits: “We should never have got the ball back.”
Lockyer’s kick travels to the 50m line where soon-to-be Anzac medallist Ryder competes.
The ball spills to Jason Winderlich. He gives it off to Heath Hocking, who goes inboard to Nathan Lovett-Murray at the point of the square.
Instead of blazing away, he senses a loose Zaharakis in the forward corridor and deftly passes it.
Zaharakis says: “I marked it on the 50m and I thought, ‘I won’t be able to go back and have a shot’ … I just played on, and kicked it, and hoped it would go through.”
For a brief moment, Macaffer looks to have pushed him off balance with a desperate effort. But Zaharakis gets the kick in — just in time.
His first goal in AFL football wins an Anzac Day game.
The Bombers coaches’ box “exploded”, according to O’Donnell.
“There were four or five blokes on their feet screaming … it was hilarious,” he says.
“It was a great story, to have a kid grow up as an Essendon supporter and win a game with such a sweet kick.”
In the stands, John and Sandy could not have been more excited.
Brother-in-law Paul and sister Jessica rise from their couch in unison.
“We were so happy for Dave,” Paul says.
“Jessica was crying her eyes out. I was sitting in my Collingwood gear, and jumped up off the couch, then I realised what he’d done (to the Magpies).”
In the MCG media centre, this reporter — working to a strict deadline — has to scrap the first eight paragraphs of his match report, and start again.
Less than 10 seconds after the final bounce, the siren sounds.
Essendon has won by five points. A new hero has arrived.
THE LEGACY
If that moment had been all Zaharakis achieved in his AFL career, it would have been enough to be remembered forever.
But he has proven to be as durable as he was dynamic that wet afternoon in 2009.
Now 29, he has played 191 matches, kicked another 119 goals, won a club best-and-fairest (2011), and won the 2013 Anzac Medal.
He’s even managed to make his niece Evie (three), and nephew, Tyson (12 months), Bombers’ fans.
Brother-in-law Paul had no choice in the matter.
“The kids get to go in the inner sanctum with Dave. If they want to change their minds later on, and barrack for Collingwood, that’s OK,” he says.
But with an uncle whose Anzac Day moment ranks as memorable as any other, that won’t be happening in a hurry.
MATCH STATS
Essendon 1.5 6.6 9.13 13.15 (93)
Collingwood 4.2 6.6 8.10 12.16 (88)
GOALS
Essendon: Dyson 2, Lovett 2, Davey, Jetta, Lonergan, McPhee, Monfries, Ryder, Stanton, Winderlich, Zaharakis
Collingwood: Anthony 4, Davis 2, L. Brown, Cloke, Macaffer, Medhurst, Pendlebury, Rocca
BEST
Essendon: Ryder, Stanton, McPhee, Watson, Fletcher, Dyson, Winderlich
Collingwood: Swan, Anthony, Prestigiacomo, Davis, Pendlebury, O’Bree
Official crowd: 84,829 at the MCG